


it's quiet in the (hyperion) heights

by mearcats



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Family, Family Feels, Gen, and listening to Hamilton, background Curious Archer, they're still cursed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2019-04-17 04:25:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14180559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mearcats/pseuds/mearcats
Summary: Chess,Hamilton, and a chat about her burgeoning relationship with Margot make for a quiet night in bonding with his new roommate, Tilly, even as Detective Rogers realizes how protective of her he feels.





	it's quiet in the (hyperion) heights

**Author's Note:**

> Some KnightRook family feels exacerbated by listening to Hamilton, I'm fine.
> 
> (Unbeta'd, so any mistakes are on me.)

He honestly doesn’t know why he likes  _Hamilton_  so much, why it resonates with him the way it does. He doesn’t care for hip-hop or musicals, and he doesn’t normally give into trends. But he supposes that even he could get swept up in lyrical masterpieces when the entire city was going crazy for it, what with the upcoming visit of the tour. 

So Alex Rogers listens to  _Hamilton_. He listens, he feels, and he weeps (silently, privately, but he’s not ashamed.) It’s a sad soul who isn’t moved by Dear Theodosia or It’s Quiet Uptown.

To his disappointment, Rogers can’t manage to get tickets. His detective’s salary, while adequate for living his life comfortably, doesn’t exactly cover the exorbitant prices for the touring production at the Paramount. 

So he doesn’t go, and truthfully, he doesn’t think about it much at that point, because his life has gone  _insane_.

In the space of a couple of months, he’s made detective, watched his partner get shot, found Eloise Gardner, found Victoria Belfrey, and started investigating a cult and whoever is trying to murder its members.

All while protecting Tilly.

Tilly is…a lot. He’s heard people talk about her–Crazy Tilly, a bit of a loon. Kinder people don’t treat her like she’s dangerous, but they still talk about her like she’d odd. 

And maybe she is, but her outlook is unique. Special, really. She sees things that others don’t, and Rogers appreciates that.

He can’t help it–he feels protective of her. There’s something about her, how vulnerable she is, that rouses his protective instincts. Sometimes he’s wrong about people (Eloise Gardener and his growing wariness toward her spring to mind), but he  _knows_  he isn’t this time.

He trusts Tilly. The only danger she presents is likely to the organization of his apartment, now that he’s offered her his spare room. And perhaps to the sanctity of his routines. And definitely his jam budget. 

It’s a couple of weeks into their new living situation when he has a chance to have an evening in (one where he isn’t summoned to wingman for Henry Mills, that is). Tilly is there, too, and she’s more down-to-earth than he can remember her being for a while. 

It seems like she has something on her mind, and he’s more than willing to talk it over with her. He suggests a game of chess, so Tilly can share without feeling put on the spot. 

She agrees, and the game begins. So does their talk–it turns out Tilly has a crush, one that might well be reciprocated. Rogers feels very out of his depths, but quells his protective instincts as he encourages her to follow her heart in her flirtation with Margot. 

Tilly is thoughtful, contemplative. She decides to put on some music while they sit puzzling over their moves on the chess board and outside the warmth of the apartment.

She picks  _Hamilton_. She’s never heard it before, but the cover looks fun, she says. 

And she  _loves_  it. She laughs her way through the first act, dancing around his living room, and Rogers can’t help but laugh with her. 

The second act begins, and Tilly, of course, picks up on the tonal shift immediately. It isn’t until after  _It’s Quiet Uptown_  that she notices the tears in his eyes, his heart heavier today as he listens to it than it ever has been before.

For a moment, it looks like she’s going to leave it, though she looks similarly affected by the song. Then she seems to come to a decision and her jaw tightens, a motion that is oddly familiar to him. “Detective? Is…is everything all right?”

He debates blowing her off, he really does. But she deserves his honesty, his vulnerability, especially when she has trusted him with so much. “I–I think so, Tilly. Just this song, you know? I don’t quite know why it affects me so.”

“Well, it’s quite good. Besides, I know what you mean. It has something, doesn’t it?”

“Aye, love, I reckon it does.” He tries for a smile, and he must succeed, because she returns it. 

There’s another pause before Tilly speaks again. “You would make a good dad, you know. Have you ever thought about–?” 

His heart twists at her unfinished question. He can’t remember ever considering it, so caught up he’s been in his work, but it feels right, like a piece of his identity he’s been struggling to find. He moves his knight.

He starts, realizing he hasn’t answered her. “Not particularly. I’m not against it, it just…it hasn’t come up.”

“Hmm. Well, thank you for taking me in. And for listening today, about Margot. I dunno, it’s just–it’s good to share,” she says, staring at the board. Then in an unexpected and genius move, she uses her rook and her own knight and checkmates him, grinning broadly. “And thanks for that opening, too.”

He groans, but laughs. “Well, clearly my taking you in hasn’t made you merciful in chess.”

“There’s no mercy in chess,  _dad_ ,” she says teasingly.

His heart gives that odd pang again, but he shakes his head, smirking. “Off to bed with you, young one. If you’re going to beat me, at least let me rest and recuperate.”

Tilly is grinning in earnest, and begins to head down the hall to her room. But she stops in the doorway, and turns back in a flash. Before he knows it, she’s hugging him. It’s a quick, fierce hug, and he only has a second to return it before she’s back down the hall, whistling a familiar tune.

A lump rises in his throat, but in that moment, everything is perfect.


End file.
